Syllabus

Department:     Chemical Dependency Studies

Instructor:                    Beverly Warman, M.Ed.

                                    Office:  2221H Wenatchi Hall

                                    Phone number: 682-6676

                                    Email: bwarman@wvc.edu

                                    Office hours: Tuesday - Thursday 10-11 am, Friday by appointment

Class Number:             CDS 207           5 Credits

Course Description:  Law and Ethics in Chemical Dependency Counseling

Focus on contemporary legal and ethical issues in the field of chemical dependency training, services, and client-counselor relationships.

Learning Outcomes:  The intention is for you to be able to:

1.     Be familiar with national and state ethical standards and legal responsibilities of counselors, including familiarity with codes of ethics of related professions.

2.     Understanding of the role, limitations and pivotal importance of personal integrity with legal and ethical practice.

3.     Identify key areas which lead chemical dependency counselors into ethical difficulties including confidentiality, mandatory reporting, personal relationships, counselor relapse, competence and limits, credential requirements, patient rights, mandatory drug testing, HIV/AIDS, special populations, financial exploitation, business issues and malpractice.

4.     Understand specific ethical and legal issues as it relates to adolescents/minors.

Performance Tasks:  The learning outcomes can be demonstrated by these tasks that progressively build to conscious application of ethics in counseling:

1.     A working knowledge of high standards of legal and ethical practices.

2.     Familiarity with national, state and agency legal and ethical standards.

3.     A working knowledge of Code of Ethics and Law related to helping professions.

4.     Knowledge of professional’s own value system in the process of making ethical decisions.

Depth of Instruction:  This will be an overview class on the legal and ethical issues of counseling.

Assessment:  Grades will be based on points gained from quizzes, tests, papers and other assignments.  Attendance will also be taken into account in the final grading process.

Policy on late assignments:  I will not accept ANY late assignments.  All assignments are due when I ask for them, usually at the beginning of class. If you will not be in class for some reason, please get me your homework via email, friend, etc.

Policy on extra credit:  As a rule, I don’t allow extra credit assignments.  Occasionally a situation such as a movie, program, conference, etc. comes up that I believe would be appropriate for an extra credit assignment.  If appropriate, it will be available to every student, and it will be each student’s decision whether they want to take the opportunity.

Make-up exams:  I don’t allow make-up exams unless there is a very good reason for them. If an illness prevents you from being in class however, let me know asap.  In the event that a make-up exam is warranted, it needs to be completed within 2 days of the original exam, or your score will be “0”.

Students in need of accommodations:  If any student has a documented disability that will require accommodation in this class, please see Carla Boyd, the Special Populations Coordinator.  Carla’s extension is 6854.

Academic honesty:  Please review the policies of WVC regarding academic honesty in the WVC handbook.  Any issues involving academic dishonesty will be handled according to these policies/procedures.

This is a breakdown of grading in this course.  To find out where you stand at any point, take your total points (determined by adding up points of all of your assignments) and divide that by the total number of points available to date.

Point scale for grading:

A = 94-100%                             C+ = 77-79%                             D+ = 67-69%

A - = 90-93%                             C = 74-76%                               D = 64-66%

B+ = 86-89%                             C- = 70-73%                              D- = 60-63%

B = 83-85%                                                                               F = 59% or Below

B- = 80-82%

**FINAL EXAM time will be announced**

Learning Resources:  The following is the required text for this class.

Issues and Ethics In the Helping Professions, Corey, Corey and Callanan, seventh edition.

WAC 388-805

CDS 207 Winter 2012

CDS 207 Portfolio Requirements

The purpose of this portfolio is for you to be able to access relevant ethical/legal information as necessary for consultation for a variety of issues, as well as to demonstrate to potential employers the ability to easily locate and interpret ethical and legal codes as well as ethical decision making.

This portfolio is to be organized and presented at the end of the quarter.  It will be graded on organization, professionalism, and completeness.

Organization:  15 points

            Information is easy to find, information is in the right place, not scattered

Professionalism:  15 points

            Information is in good shape and presentable

Completeness:  20 points

            All necessary information is contained in the portfolio, including all relevant codes of law and/or ethics, relevant additional information, all ethical/legal dilemmas discussed in class, all article reviews, and personal purpose for portfolio.